Yousuf Karsh was an Armenian-Canadian photographer from the 20^th century who is known for his portraiture of notable individuals like Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth, etc. For Yousuf Karsh, his main focus is to capture one’s inward power. To capture their true sense of self, not the mask they put on for others. The portrait that I love the most from Karsh is of Audrey Hepburn 1956. I absolutely love and adore her and her movies. She was not only an actress but also a humanitarian. This portrait is actually one of my favorites of her. I’ve used it in one of the projects I did on her. I like that she isn’t looking directly at the camera with her eyes looking down. It not only captures her elegance but her sincerity as well. The way this photo is captured has a sense of intimacy being shot so up close. His portraits provide a more intimate glimpse and insight to some of the most outstanding personalities of our time.

Nadav Kander is still a working photographer who is known for his portraits and landscapes. Unlike Karsh who wanted to capture one’s true self, Kander captures his own through his work. His work has a sense of direction. His strong belief is that nothing is out of bounds. Looking at his portraits, they are very unconventional. The tone of his solitary portrait series is very cool toned. His use of light, props, expression, and posture add to the theme of being alone and isolated. The people he chose for this series were quite interesting. I think these people fit his solitary vision. There are a few that I really liked. Two of them were slightly similar, Eddie Redmayne, Forest, 2016 and Rosamund Pike II, 2015. I liked how he incorporated the forest shadow as an overlay. It gives me the idea that they’re one with nature or that humans are these creatures of habit.

Both of these two photographers are pretty admirable. There is one who wants to capture the true essence and rawness of a person, and then you have one who isn’t bound by convention and what a normal portrait should look like but rather what it can become. What I want to emulate in the upcoming portrait assignments are a bit of both. I want to follow my own artistic direction along with one’s true self. I hope that makes sense.